--- title: "Donate or Throw Away Old Books? How to Decide" description: "Should you donate or throw away old books? Learn how to decide what to keep, toss, or donate. Give My Books Network Philadelphia explains. Find out more." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/#organization", "name": "Give My Books Network", "legalName": "Book Sourcing Mastery, LLC", "url": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com", "logo": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/social-card.jpg", "image": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/social-card.jpg", "description": "Give My Books Network is a nationwide United States network of local Pick-Up Partners who collect used books, textbooks, CDs and DVDs for free directly from the donor's door, resell what is sellable and rehome the rest to schools, libraries, shelters and nonprofits.", "foundingDate": "2022", "telephone": "+1-855-506-8633", "email": "support@givemybooksnetwork.com", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "2091 Stratton Ct.", "addressLocality": "Ann Arbor", "addressRegion": "MI", "postalCode": "48108", "addressCountry": "US" }, "contactPoint": { "@type": "ContactPoint", "telephone": "+1-855-506-8633", "contactType": "customer service", "email": "support@givemybooksnetwork.com", "availableLanguage": "English" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/givemybooksnetwork", "https://www.instagram.com/givemybooksnetwork", "https://twitter.com/givemybooks" ], "areaServed": { "@type": "Country", "name": "United States" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "name": "Give My Books Network", "legalName": "Book Sourcing Mastery, LLC", "url": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com", "logo": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/social-card.jpg", "image": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/social-card.jpg", "description": "Give My Books Network provides free door-to-door book donation pickup services across the United States. We collect books, textbooks, CDs, DVDs, and more – giving your items a second life while supporting literacy programs.", "foundingDate": "2022", "telephone": "+1-855-506-8633", "email": "support@givemybooksnetwork.com", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "2091 Stratton Ct.", "addressLocality": "Ann Arbor", "addressRegion": "MI", "postalCode": "48108", "addressCountry": "US" }, "contactPoint": { "@type": "ContactPoint", "telephone": "+1-855-506-8633", "contactType": "customer service", "email": "support@givemybooksnetwork.com", "availableLanguage": "English" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/givemybooksnetwork", "https://www.instagram.com/givemybooksnetwork", "https://twitter.com/givemybooks" ], "areaServed": { "@type": "Country", "name": "United States" } } ] --- Feedback ![Give My Books Network Logo](/assets/gmbn-logo-BsMIhLrP.png) - Learn More Schedule Pick-UpGive ME BooksBecome a Pick-Up Partner Sign In Home› Philadelphia, PA› Learn More # Should You Donate or Throw Away Old Books? How to Decide Should you donate or throw away old books? Learn how to decide what to keep, toss, or donate. Give My Books Network Philadelphia explains. Find out more. ## Should You Donate or Throw Away Old Books? How to Decide ## Not Every Old Book Belongs in the Here's the thing most people get wrong when clearing out a bookshelf. They treat every old book the same. A water-damaged paperback from 1987 and a barely-touched hardcover from last year both end up in the same bag. We see this constantly when helping Philadelphia households think through the question, should you donate or throw away old books? How to Decide is actually a process, not a gut feeling. Slow down and look at what you actually have before anything goes in the. ### Condition Is the First Thing to Check Pick up the book. Open it. Smell it. And yeah, we're serious about that last one. A musty, mildew smell usually means moisture's gotten into the pages, and that kind of damage spreads to everything nearby. A book that smells like a wet basement is going to make other books smell that way too. No school, library, or reader wants that. But a book that's just dusty? Or has a slightly bent cover? That's not damaged. That's just old. We've picked up boxes from row homes in Fishtown and Germantown where the books looked rough on the outside but were perfectly readable inside. Condition is about usability, not appearance. Would you hand this book to a neighbor? If yes, it probably has a second life ahead. If you'd feel embarrassed giving it away, that's useful information too. Books that are genuinely unusable include ones with: - Mold or mildew on the pages - Water damage that has warped or fused pages together - Missing sections or torn-out chapters - Pest damage, chewed corners, insect debris - Covers completely detached with no binding intact Everything else? Keep reading before you throw it out. ### Age Alone Doesn't Disqualify a Book We hear this one constantly. "These are really old books, probably nobody wants them." Almost never true. A classic novel from the 1960s in good condition is still readable. A children's picture book from the 1980s with bright illustrations and solid pages? Kids don't care when it was printed. A reference book from 2005 might be outdated, but a collection of short stories from the same year reads just as well now as it did then. Fiction doesn't expire. Poetry doesn't expire. Art books, cookbooks, general literature. None of it does. The books that tend to age poorly are the ones where the content itself expires. Outdated medical guides, old tax preparation manuals, technology how-to books for software that no longer exists, travel guides for destinations that have completely changed. The American Library Association points out that libraries routinely remove books from circulation not because they're old but because the information is no longer accurate. That's a useful standard to borrow. A well-loved copy of a Toni Morrison novel doesn't have an expiration date. So. Last fall we helped a household in West Philadelphia sort through three generations of books. Grandparents, parents, kids. The whole thing. The oldest books in the pile were from the 1940s. Several were in good enough condition that they found new homes through Give My Books Network's pickup process. The family was genuinely surprised. They'd assumed old automatically meant worthless. It almost never does. ### What "Donatable" Actually Means in Practice Most guides rush past this part. Not here. A book is donatable if a real person could pick it up, read it, and get value from it. That's the whole standard. It doesn't need to be a bestseller. It doesn't need to be in perfect condition. Functional and complete. That's it. Through networks like Give My Books Network, many items are redistributed to readers, schools, libraries, nonprofits, and organizations that request books through programs like the Give ME Books program. Real people who want to read. Who need access. Who aren't judging a title by a scuffed spine. A paperback with a cracked spine is still readable. A hardcover with a previous owner's name written inside is still a complete book. A novel with a few dog-eared pages is still a novel. None of those things make a book unfit for someone else's hands. Physical damage that prevents reading does. Stuck pages, missing sections, mold. Or content so outdated it could actually mislead someone, like an old medical reference with superseded treatment information. But here's the part most people skip entirely: you don't have to make every call perfectly. Schedule a free pickup through Give My Books Network, and Local Pick-Up Partners collect the items and handle sorting after collection. Pack your books in boxes or bags, well-packed and not too heavy. Leave them out starting at 8 AM in a safe, dry spot outside, in a garage, or another accessible area. Nobody needs to be home. The pickup window runs between 8 AM and 8 PM. The sorting burden isn't on you. That matters more than people realize. ### The Real Cost of Throwing Away Books That Could Be Reused Here's what actually happens when readable books go in the. In Pennsylvania, most household waste ends up in municipal solid waste facilities. Paper and books can technically be recycled, but books tossed into regular trash rather than recycling often end up in landfill. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that paper and paperboard make up a significant portion of municipal solid waste in the United States, with millions of tons landfilled each year despite being recyclable or reusable. There's also a real access issue beyond the environmental piece. A 2021 report from the Urban Libraries Council found that book deserts, areas with limited access to books and reading materials, disproportionately affect lower-income neighborhoods in cities like Philadelphia. When readable books get trashed instead of redirected, that gap doesn't close. This isn't about making anyone feel guilty over one bag of books. Most people genuinely don't know a free, no-hassle pickup option exists. Once you know, the decision gets a lot easier. Give My Books Network is a nationwide community book-sharing network. If a partner serves your ZIP code, pickups can be scheduled immediately. If no partner currently serves your area, a request may still be fulfilled through the out-of-area pickup system. Worth checking before anything goes to the curb. ### Books That Are Genuinely Past Saving. And That's Okay Not every book has a second life. Some are just done. Open a box from a flooded basement and find books stuck together, smelling strongly of mold, with visible fungal growth on the covers. Those books aren't safe to pass along. Mold is a health concern. It spreads to other materials. Those go in the trash, or if possible, in a paper recycling bin if your local program accepts them. Philadelphia's curbside recycling program accepts paper and cardboard, so loose, dry, non-moldy pages can often go in the blue bin rather than the trash. Pest-damaged books, ones with silverfish damage, rodent chewing, or visible insect debris, also shouldn't be passed along. It's not about being precious. It's about not spreading an infestation to someone else's home or collection. And some books are just worn out. A paperback that's been read so many times the pages are falling out individually isn't going to serve another reader. That's a book that did its job. Let it go without guilt. The point isn't to save every single book. It's to stop throwing away books that still have life in them just because it's easier than figuring out what to do. That's the habit worth breaking. ### A Practical Way to Sort Before You Pack Three piles. That's it. Keep. Donate.. Keep is obvious. Books you'll actually read or reference again. Be honest with yourself here. Most people keep too many books out of vague intention rather than real use. That novel you've been meaning to read since 2011? Probably not happening. It's okay. Donate gets everything readable, complete, and not mold-damaged. Don't overthink the titles. Don't worry about whether it's popular or obscure. If it's readable, it goes in the donate pile. There is no need to sort or separate any books before pickup. Local Pick-Up Partners handle sorting after collection. Some items may be resold to support the partner's business and help sustain the free pickup service. Many items are redistributed to readers, schools, libraries, nonprofits, and organizations requesting books. Items that can't be reused may eventually be recycled. That's their job. Not yours. is only what's truly unusable. Mold, pest damage, missing pages, water-fused books. Genuinely unsure about something? It goes in donate. Err on the side of passing it along. Once you've got your donate pile, pack it into boxes or bags. Keep them manageable, not too heavy to lift. Leave them in a safe, dry location starting at 8 AM on your scheduled pickup day. No one needs to be home. No sorting required on your end. Unless there are special circumstances, there's no need to contact anyone or be present. We've watched people spend hours researching individual titles, checking whether specific books are "worth donating," calling around to different organizations. That effort is real. Mostly unnecessary, though. The simpler approach works just as well and takes a fraction of the time. Pack it, schedule it, leave it out. Having helped Philadelphia households work through this process for years, we can tell you the hardest part is usually just deciding to start. If you're in the Philadelphia area and have books ready to go, schedule a free pickup through Give My Books Network and let the process do the work for you. ### Ready to schedule your free Philadelphia book pickup? We'll come to your door — no cost, no hassle. Book pickup, DVD pickup, large-quantity, estate, and more in Philadelphia, PA. Schedule Free Pickup Or browse all Philadelphia donation services including Doorstep Book Pickup , Large Quantity Book Pickup , Book Donation Drop-Off . ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How do I know if a book is still good enough to donate? ### Does an old book automatically mean nobody wants it? ### Are there Philadelphia-specific reasons books get damaged faster? ### Do I need to sort my books before scheduling a pickup in Philadelphia? ### What actually happens to donated books through Give My Books Network? ### Is it better to throw books away if no donation spot is nearby? ## More from Philadelphia Learn More Best Places to Donate Used Books in 2026 Learn More How to Get Rid of a Large Book Collection: Options for Hundreds or Thousands of Books Learn More How to Pack Books for Donation: Best Practices and Tips Service Doorstep Book Pickup in Philadelphia Service Large Quantity Book Pickup in Philadelphia Service Book Donation Drop-Off in Philadelphia Back to Philadelphia Donation Services ![Give My Books Network Logo](/assets/gmbn-logo-BsMIhLrP.png) **America's Nationwide Community Book-Sharing Network.** Free book and media pickup service! 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